


SGAME

by literaryheckler



Category: Homestuck, Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Genre: Character Death, Some tags excluded as necessary for maintenance of suspense, Violence, taggs added as necessary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-05-24
Packaged: 2017-11-29 08:05:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/684701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryheckler/pseuds/literaryheckler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a back corner of the arcade rests an old game which only one old man who looks like he used to ride the breeze plays. No game character has ever visited it. The entrance is blocked. Almost everyone knows about the beautiful images which parade across it's screen.</p><p>A VACATIONING GAME SPRITE STANDS IN A FOREIGN GAME. THOUGH IT WAS THIRTY ONE YEARS AGO TODAY WHEN HE WAS FIRST PLAYED, IT IS ONLY TODAY THAT HE WILL BECOME REAL.</p><p>YOUR NAME IS WRECK-IT RALPH.</p><p>WHAT WILL YOU DO?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Game Across the Isle

Since well before Fix-it Felix was installed, before Q*Bert and Pac Man and all the rest, there was one game in the arcade. It was old even when Pong was first plugged in. Screen cracked, paint peeling, old enough that it had to have been made before the technology even existed. 

The game was still plugged in by the time Ralph and Felix become friends. None of the characters ever leave their game, and the entrance is blocked from the inside. Nobody plays it. But it is a common pass-time among nearly every character to watch the graphics from a game across the isle. 

They are stunning. Mesmerizing. The creation and destruction of worlds. Of species. Of characters. The images have never once repeated, aside from the main cast. Nobody has managed to figure out how the game is supposed to work. But it is extremely obvious that the game engine far surpasses anything technology could make today, let alone the time everyone estimates it had been programmed.

And yet, despite the incredible imagery, it has never been played to anyone’s knowledge, except for a single old man who plays once a week. He is the only person ever to have been seen at the controls. He is never disturbed while playing. Litwak actually chases children away from any games close to the game when the old man enters. Everyone in Game Central Station knows he must be important, but he never talks to Litwak or the children.

He is stooped with age, white moustache and black hair contrast on opposing sides of his square-framed glasses, and three buck teeth poking over his bottom lip. He dresses smartly in black suit pants, a white dress shirt, and red suspenders. His eyes display a childish sort of mischief sometimes, but that goes away when he stops playing the game, replaced by their usual sad, tired gaze.

But he always returns. His eyes light up, and his arthritic fingers fly across the controls with the dexterity of a man a third his age. Something about the game takes away all those years.

But no one else will play, even after he is gone. They used to, and first-timers still give it a glance, before their more experienced friends lead them away. They say it’s because the game is too hard. Too steep of a learning curve. Too sinister. Instead, they go play something comparatively easy. Like Hero’s Duty. 

When Ralph becomes more familiar with the goings on at Game Central Station, he begins asking about this game. Since it is so old, no one can make out the name on the side of the box. Eventually, Ralph begins asking the oldest people he can find. He goes to Q*Bert, and Centipede, and even Whac-a-Mole, but he doesn’t learn anything until he finds someone to translate for Pong, who was the very first game, other that that one, to be plugged in.

The game is called Sburb.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, I come to you today, not with Chapter 1, but an apology. The end of my school semester is nigh, and though I will be able to write over that time, I won't have internet access to post what I've written. Chapter 1 has taken me far longer than it should have, due to a combination of writer's block and fic faeries leading me to LOSAS. It is still incomplete, and will remain so for some time. Therefore, I present to you the first third of the rough draft to hold you over until September. I warn you, I haven't even gone through to spell-check. This is a true rough draft.

“Hey, Q*Bert, what’s the big rush?”

”@*!&%%*@#!”

Ralph looked at Felix. Felix replied “Ah, he says that it’s almost time. I don’t know what he means for, though.” Felix started talking to Q*Bert in faltering Q*Bertese, and only got more puzzled as the exchange went on. 

“He says that it’s time for the Elderly Bloke to play his game.” Felix looked just as confused as Ralph felt, but they followed Q*Bert down the vast hall of Game Central Station to a busy terminal, and joined the line waiting to get in.

Today was an interesting exception to the normal routine. One of the regulars at the Tapper had mentioned that a connection of his from Cyber Central Station had heard that the kids at the local school had an overnight field trip. The word spread quickly, and everyone was taking advantage of this extended break to take a vacation.

Ralph was spending his break doing some general exploration, visiting games he’d never frequented before. Felix was having an extended honeymoon with Calhoun, but was meeting her at wherever Q*Bert was taking them.

Whoops. Speaking of Q*Bert, he was already moving again. Ralph rushed to catch up. They got on the tram, and in a minute they were in the stands of the Star Wars Pod Racing Game, chosen for the purpose because the stands were generally not visible except at the beginning of the game, and because characters could generally get away with being seen there because of the aliens Star Wars was home to. The cameras were aimed out into the arcade center, focusing on that old arcade game that Ralph had been asking about. Ralph was stunned by the detail of the game. It well outstripped even Hero’s Duty in definition.

“Pretty amazing sight, isn’t it, Ralph,” said Calhoun as she came up behind them.

“Yeah, almost perfect definition. How’d they manage that in a game older than Pong?”

“No idea.”

Across the isle, the game’s loading screen showed the ever-shifting view of whole galaxies, whirling about in a celestial dance beyond anyone’s comprehension. Ralph looked on, intrigued by the depth of detail, when suddenly his view was blocked by the sight of an old man. Everyone began paying closer attention now, as the man that they had all seen, though he never played any of their games, leaned over to put in a token. Felix, a newcomer here just like Ralph, noticed something and pointed it out to Calhoun. She took out her scope to get a closer look.

“That’s not a normal token,” she muttered. “It’s not metal. Got some kind of spirograph design on it. And a neck chain.” She looked up, a scowl on her face. “That damn Leroy’s got a cheater’s coin!”

Q*Bert nattered at her consolingly. She looked back, utterly non-plussed, then glanced at Felix.

“Oh come on, why am I the only one here who can speak Q*Bertese?” he grumbled. Calhoun just looked at him. “Ok, fine. He says the Elderly Bloke does it every time, even when Litwak’s watching, and Litwak never says anything about it.”

“Never says anything about what?” asked a familiar voice. Everyone looked up to see Vanellope hanging from the awning just overhead.

Ralph answered for Felix, “That old man at the cabinet over there’s using a cheater’s coin.”

"Oh. Well, it's not like he's playing any of the other games. I don't think I've even seen Litwak check that game for tokens."

As they were talking, the man put the coin in the machine. There was a pause, and the screen went black. Lined of code began to scroll down the screen, but none of the characters could understand it. Ralph, looking for any clue, saw one four character group repeated over and over. He turned to the rest of the group.

"Do any of you know what '~ATH' means?"

"Tilde ATH'? No idea, why?" asked Calhoun.

"It keeps showing up in the code up there," he replied, gesturing toward the code still scrolling by.

"Huh. Sounds ominous, though. 'Til death."

Suddenly the old man yanked the coin out by the neckchain. The code flashed once, and vanished. The screen went dark once more.

Slowly, a pinpoint of light faded into view. As it grew larger, it began to be visible as a brightly glowing frog.

"Wha? Why a frog?" muttered Ralph.

The frog grew larger and larger, until it was apparant that to the point-of-view camera, this frog was simply titanic in proportions. Just below it's dangling feet hovered a platform. The platform was empty save for a blue-clad Player Character and a door the size and shape of a house.

The old man lay his hands on the controls, and as his fingers began to fly across the buttons and joystick, the character flew on a gust of wind through the door. From there on, it looked like any high-end fantasy RPG, save for the extremely high end graphics.

The whole group of characters watching from the Pod Racing game watched, mesmerized by the beauty of the graphics, the complexity of the game engine, and the sheer detail of the gameplay shown.

 

After a couple of hours, the old man's character came upon the same door. He went through, leaving the door ajar, and ended up on that same platform beneath the giant frog. The character slowly faded away to nothing, and the screen went dark. The old man popped his back, turned, and walked out of the arcade, waving to Litwak as he passed. The screen on the game slowly began to take up it's usual portrayal of stars, galaxies, and creatures. Everyone began to head back to the tram for Game Central Station

Back in the crouded station, Ralph decided to see if he could find the terminal for "Sburp," or whatever Pong had called it. Twenty minutes and a stubbed toe later, he found it.

It was the last one down the hall, and the only one without a sign. It was also the only one which was baracaded. Ralph was going to see if he could find a hole he could look through, but a small tube built into the baracade began shooting fancy santa knicknaks at him, and he had to leave.

A few days passed, and Ralph forgot about the mysterious game.

 

A week passed, and Fix-It Felix, Jr.'s thirty first anniversary was just arround the corner. It wasn't one of the big anniverseries like last year's, but there was still a party planned, and this year, Ralph was a part of it all. Most of the delicate work was beyond him, but hanging the banner, streamers, and other tall-guy jobs were perfect. Sonic Blue for the streamers on the 1st floor, Pac-Man Yellow on the second, Frogger Green on the 3rd, and so on. For the gentle task of hanging the Pinata, Ralph just lifted Felix up to his enormous shoulder and let him stand there while Felix did the job. But for now, everything was done, and Ralph was taking a much needed break.

Speaking of Felix, here he was now.

"Heya, Ralph, we got a teensie bit of a problem here."

"Oh, yeah? Whats gone wrong this time?"

Felix glanced away, looking a bit bashful at interupting Ralph's rest. "Well, you see, the mayor didn't take guests into account when he was buying tonight's drinks over at Tapper. We're about three kegs short. And-"

"You need me to go over and pick them up," Ralph interrupted with a little chuckle. "Alright, I'll be back in a jiffy."

But to his dismay, Ralph, once again, wouldn't be back for quite a while.


	3. DIS* input log

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to your comments, I began thinking about this again. I've decided on a new approach to the area giving me writer's block, and what do you know, it worked. Plot bunnies galore.
> 
> Just got to say, Popeye's comment is what fueled this. I need fanaticism just as much as I need criticism, apparently.

DIS*  
import system  
SBURB beta release  
*r8 system  
DIS* level 413  
*action unlocked  
initiate :IZ8ION  
:(:D )  
:( :[=  
:(,o')  
:_^--^_

initiate DIS* monitoring  
*4:13 DIS* 1  
c83-(:D ) entered

*{covert action REGISURP}

*0:00 DIS* 2  
NTREE initiated  
c83-( :[= entered  
stable time loop A completed

*1:11 DIS* 4  
NTREE initiated  
c83-(,o') entered  
*DIS 3  
AW8KN initiated  
(:D ) awakened

*3:14 DIS* 5  
:IZ8ION initiated  
:69  
:'V'  
:}O  
:II  
:No,  
:Mx  
:C||  
:Mv  
:+^  
:Vo,  
:vvvv  
:)-(

*4:13 DIS* 6  
NTREE initiated  
c83-_^--^_ entered  
1GARD prototyped  
{covert action SOVEREIGN SLAYER}

*6:12 DIS* 7  
`U8 initiated  
`(:D ) ascended  
`( :[= has gone grimdark  
{covert action 1GARD SLAYER}  
( :[= is no longer grimdark

*10:25 DIS* 8  
`U8 initiated  
`_^--^_ ascended  
`( :[= ascended  
`(,o') ascended

end system  
establish console  
establish uplink  
establish communication  
establish transport  
initiate monitoring

26:280:00  
export system (:D )

52:980:00  
import (TT)  
DIS*  
*export system II

52:991:54  
export (TT)  
import system II

2:89:244:00  
import (TT)  
DIS*  
*export system II

2:89:249:12  
export (TT)  
import system II

2:89:269:12  
import (KC)  
DIS*  
*export system II

2:89:289:32  
export (KC)  
import system II  
import II

2:97:840:00  
export 69  
export II  
export _^--^_  
awaiting command|


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the interest of beating writer's block, I'm taking a new approach:
> 
> post in frequent small doses rather than one big one every now and then.
> 
> Perhaps if I do that I won't have the excuse of "I don't want to write something that long right now, I don't have the time" and i can just write it.

Karkat Vantas was not having a good day. For the first time in thirty three years, he was free of the Game. He still had to go back, but for now, he was free. That didn't mean he was free of his friends, though. Jade was being herself in this enormous hallway, checking out the locals, making friends, and just generally being a cheerful pain in the ass to any and all who crossed her path. Which was an accomplishment, seeing as how Karkat was fairly certain several dozen of these things didn't have asses in the first place.

Sollux, on the other hand, was, for the first time in months, completely serious. He'd gone to ground after the hacking attempt last year, and when he'd shown up a month later, the troll had been really fucking weird. He still had a deep love for coding, and the slang permeated his speech, but he stopped having downswings. He was stuck in his manic phase, and his sense of humor took a turn for the Egbertian. A week ago, he'd suddenly vanished again. When he returned, he was completely normal, as if the past year had never happened. With the humor went the memories, and he claimed he'd been unconscious for most of the year. After the interrogation, he'd insisted that they needed to contact Egbert.

Which is what brought you here. Game Central Station. The hubcap of all communication, transport, and activity in the arcade, and the only place outside of the Game that Sollux would settle for.

Karkat Vantas hated the Station.

The station was a way out. A means of escape for him and his friends, a permanent one. A means of escape for Jack. After the first incident, which had ended with the slaughter of the surge protector AI Sollux had coded in his spare time, they had barricaded the main entry, and capped it off with Jade's house so Jack wouldn't try to break it. That worked perfectly, and allowed them to occasionally venture out themselves if they knew Jack wasn't around. Sollux would go out every time he found out a new game was being plugged in, and code an AI for each character to pass the time. Dave would go to the fighting games and pose as a bonus round character to spar with people he wasn't afraid of killing. Tavros would join racing games, and could compete with the best of them. Everyone had their own way to pass the thirty-odd years. Everyone but Karkat.

Karkat had seen the AIs, and knew that Jack would not hesitate to slaughter all of them once he'd managed to kill him and his friends. So every time they would sneak out to break the monotony, he and whoever was left would spend the time the barricade was unguarded fighting Jack.

"Karkat! Watch out!" his thoughts were interrupted by Jade's shout, and he stopped walking just in time to avoid walking into a huge man dressed in boots, red and gold underwear, and chest hair.

"Wow, what the fuck. Try to mow your chest fur, you douche waffle you almost put my eye out!" Karkat shouted. The AI man replied in broken English.

"Try watching yourself. Might be better et not running into people if you do."

"You want to fucking start this? Because I am not in the god damn mood right now. I swear to god, Jade, why the hell did you let Sollux bring me into this nerdgasmic hell?"

"You offered, fuckthain." retorted Sollux, peering over Jade's shoulder.

Within moments, the shouting match spread to other AIs. Far across the station, an even larger man wearing overalls watched in mild curiosity.


End file.
